Sign up to our newsletters

Radio turns up the focus on the power of sound with launch of new audio logo

The commercial radio industry today launched a new audio logo for its Radio Alive campaign as it urged brands to develop a clear audio strategy to better connect with customers in the new media environment.

Joan Warner, the chief executive officer of peak industry body Commercial Radio Australia, said the importance of audio was highlighted by growing audiences for radio and the increasing popularity of podcasts and voice activated speakers.

“Having an audio brand strategy is as important as having a visual one because consumers are spending a significant proportion of their media time listening, and this is only set to increase as voice technology continues to develop and audio content becomes available across more channels and devices,” she said.

Radio continues to enjoy a resurgence with cumulative audiences at record highs and metro ad revenue up 5.8% in the first half of the calendar year.

The industry today launched the third phase of its Radio Alive campaign, including three new radio ads and an audio logo developed by Eardrum. The ads go to air nationally on Monday across 260 radio stations and will be supported by trade marketing.

Ralph van Dijk, founding creative director at Eardrum, said the Radio Alive audio logo uses sampling and original music to grab attention and improve recall.

“The brief was to create a distinctive audio logo that would reflect radio’s contemporary image in just a couple of seconds and be highly memorable.

“The big benefit of an audio logo versus a visual logo is that it stays with you after you’ve experienced it and plays an important role in positively differentiating a product or service. It can create preference, build trust and even increase sales.”

The new ads focus on radio being “the medium Aussies trust most” and continue the theme of using case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of radio advertising.

The ad “Flaky Results” tells the story of a bakery that can’t express the tastiness of their sausage rolls using a visual ad but finds success with radio able to bring to life the sounds of real people reacting to the taste. The ad “Trusty Tunes” focuses on trust in radio presenters, while “Crazy for Cars” focuses on radio’s ability to create conversations and get people talking.